Fabricating method for fabricating metallic member

ABSTRACT

A method for fabricating a metallic member includes providing a pre-forging mould. The pre-forging mould comprises an upper mould and a lower mould. The lower mould defines a pre-forging chamber, and a die cavity defined in a bottom surface of the pre-forging chamber. A metallic stock is placed above the die cavity, and the upper mould is moved toward the lower mould to forge the metallic stock, thereby forming a pre-formed body comprising a forging portion and a pre-forged base; annealing the pre-formed body; providing a forging mould to forge the pre-formed body, thereby obtaining a forged-body with a forged base thinner than that of the pre-forged base. Then the forged-body is milled to a desired size, and sandblasted, thereby obtaining the metallic member.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to fabricating methods, and more particularly, to a method for fabricating a metallic member including a forge step.

2. Description of Related Art

Many procedures, such as forging, milling and sandblasting, are employed to fabricate a metallic member. A forging mould employed to forge the metallic member includes an upper mould, and a lower mould defining a cavity. The forging procedure includes steps as follow: positioning the lower mould; placing a metallic stock in the cavity of the lower mould; moving the upper mould towards the lower mould to forge the metallic stock, and then the metallic stock deforms and flows into the cavity, thereby fabricating a metallic member. However, during forging, a hermetic chamber is formed by the upper mould and the lower mould, so that the metallic stock may not flow properly. The metallographic structure of the metallic member may not be uniform. The metallic member fabricated by the above-mentioned method may not be uniform in color after a sandblasting process.

Therefore, there is room for improvement in the art.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present disclosure. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of an embodiment of a fabricating method for a metallic member, wherein a pre-forging mould and a forging mould are employed.

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view of the pre-forging mould and a metallic stock of FIG. 1 after pre-forging.

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of the forging mould and the metallic stock of FIG. 1 after forging.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of metallo-graphic structure photo of the metallic member of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIGS. 1 through 3, an embodiment of a method for fabricating a metallic member includes steps as follow:

Step S101: a pre-forging mould 100 is provided. The pre-forging mould 100 includes an upper mould 10 and a lower mould 20. The upper mould 10 is in a block shape. The lower mould 20 defines a pre-forging chamber 21 therein. A die cavity 23 is defined in a bottom surface of the pre-forging chamber 21. The pre-forging chamber 21 is bounded by a bottom surface 211 and a side surface 213. The die cavity 23 is defined in the bottom surface 211, and has a plurality of stepped sides narrowing towards the bottom thereof.

Step S102: A metallic stock is placed above the die cavity 23, and is partly received in the pre-forging chamber 21. The upper mould 10 is moved towards the lower mould 20, and forges the metallic stock, so that a portion of the metallic stock flows toward the side surfaces thereof and an another portion of the metallic stock flows into the die cavity 23. Thus, a pre-forming body 201 is obtained. The pre-forming body 201 includes a pre-forged base 202 and a forging portion 203, in which the forging portion 203 is received in the die cavity 23. In detail, the metallic stock is placed in the pre-forging chamber 21 and above the die cavity 23, and a side portion of the metallic stock is partly blocked by the side surface 213 of the pre-forging chamber 21. The upper mould 10 is moved toward the lower mould 20, the metallic stock is then pressed, and portions of the metallic stock not blocked by the side surface 213 are deformed toward the side surfaces thereof. Because of the blocking by the side surface 213 of the pre-forging chamber 21, a portion of the metallic stock flows into the die cavity 23, thereby forming the forging portion 203 in the die cavity 23 and the pre-forged base 202 between the bottom surface 211 of the pre-forging chamber 21 and the upper mould 10.

In the pre-forging process, a plurality of pine-tree crystals, air cavities, and loosenings of the metallic stock deform toward the side surfaces of the metallic stock, thereby forming a plurality of metallic flow lines 204 in the metallic stock along a deforming direction thereof. In the illustrated embodiment, the forging portion 203 is a protrusion received in the die cavity 23. The metallic stock is made of aluminum alloy.

Step S103: An annealing process is applied to the pre-forming body 201 to eliminate the metallic flow lines 204.

Step S104: A forging mould 300 is employed to forge the pre-forming body 201, thereby obtaining a forged-body 205 with a forged base 202′ that is thinner than the pre-forged base 202. The forging mould 300 includes a movable mould 310 and a stationary mould 330. The stationary mould 330 defines a forging chamber 331 therein. The forging chamber 331 has a shape and size substantially the same as that of the die cavity 23. In the forging process, the forging portion 203 is received in the forging chamber 331. The movable mould 310 is moved toward the stationary mould 330 to press the pre-forged base 202, such that the pre-forged base 202 deforms and becomes thinner in thickness, thereby obtaining the forged-body 205 with the forged base 202′.

Step S105: The forged-body 205 is milled to a desired size. In the embodiment, a computer numerical control (CNC) device is employed to mill the forged-body 205.

Step S106: A sand blasting process is applied to the forged-body 205, thereby obtaining a metallic member.

FIG. 4 shows a cross-section of a metallographic structure photo of the metallic member. In the pre-forging process, a portion of the metallic stock flows freely, thus the phase organization of the metallic member is uniform. The metallic member after the sandblasting process yields an attractive appearance which is uniform in color. Furthermore, the hardness of the metallic member is uniform. The sandblasting process may be substituted by chemical polishing, mechanical polishing, impeller blasting, anodizing or etching to meet the desired requirement.

The pre-forging chamber 21 may be formed by surrounding walls detachably mounted on the lower mould 20. The metallic stock may be made of stainless steel in other embodiment.

Depending on the embodiment, certain of the steps described may be removed, while other steps may be added, and the sequence of steps may be altered. It is also to be understood that the description and the claims drawn to a method may include some indication in reference to certain steps. However, the indication used is only to be viewed for identification purposes and not as a suggestion as to an order for the steps.

Finally, while various embodiments have been described and illustrated, the disclosure is not to be construed as being limited thereto. Various modifications can be made to the embodiments by those skilled in the art without departing from the true spirit and scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A fabricating method for a metallic member, comprising: providing a pre-forging mould, the pre-forging mould comprising an upper mould and a lower mould, the lower mould defining a pre-forging chamber therein, and a die cavity being defined on a bottom surface of the pre-forging chamber; placing a metallic stock above the die cavity, moving the upper mould toward the lower mould to forge the metallic stock, thereby forming a pre-forming body comprising a forging portion in the die cavity and a pre-forged base located between the bottom surface of the pre-forging chamber and the upper mould; annealing the pre-forming body; providing a forging mould to forge the pre-forming body, the forging mould comprising a movable mould and a stationary mould, the stationary mould defining a forging chamber having a shape and sizes being substantially the same as that of the die cavity of the lower mould, placing the pre-forming body on the stationary mould with the forging portion received in the forging chamber, moving the movable mould toward the stationary mould, thereby obtaining a forged-body having a thickness being thinner than that of the pre-forged base; and milling the forged-body to a desired size.
 2. The fabricating method of claim 1, wherein the die cavity has a plurality of stepped sides narrowing towards the bottom thereof.
 3. The fabricating method of claim 1, wherein when the upper mould moves toward the lower mould, a side portion of the metallic stock is partly blocked by a side surface of the pre-forging chamber, a portion of the metallic stock flows into the die cavity, thereby forming the forging portion in the die cavity.
 4. The fabricating method of claim 1, wherein the metallic stock is made of stainless steel or aluminum alloy.
 5. The fabricating method of claim 3, wherein in the step of forming the pre-forming body, a plurality of pine-tree crystals, air cavities and loosenings of the metallic stock deform toward the side surface of the pre-forging chamber, thereby forming a plurality of metallic flow lines in the pre-forming body along a deforming direction thereof, and after annealing the pre-forming body, the plurality of metallic flow lines are eliminated.
 6. A fabricating method for a metallic member, comprising: providing a pre-forging mould, the pre-forging mould comprising an upper mould and a lower mould, the lower mould defining a pre-forging chamber, and a die cavity is defined on a bottom surface of the pre-forging chamber; placing a metallic stock above the die cavity and partly received in the pre-forging chamber, moving the upper mould toward the lower mould and forging the metallic stock, thereby forming a pre-forming body comprising a forging portion in the die cavity and a pre-forged base between the bottom surface of the pre-forging chamber and the upper mould, wherein a plurality of pine-tree crystals, air-holes cavities and loosenings of the metallic stock deform toward a side surface of the pre-forging chamber, thereby forming a plurality of the metallic flow lines in the pre-forming body along a deforming direction thereof; annealing the pre-forming body to eliminate the plurality of metallic flow lines; providing a forging mould to forge the pre-forged base of the pre-forming body, thereby obtaining a forged-body with a forged base being thinner in thickness than that of the pre-forged base; milling the forged-body to a desired size; and applying a sand blasting process to the forged-body, thereby obtaining the metallic member.
 7. The fabricating method of claim 6, wherein the forging mould comprises a movable mould and a stationary mould, the stationary mould defines a forging chamber thereon therein having a shape and sizes being substantially the same as that of the die cavity of the lower mould, when forging the pre-forged base of the pre-forming body, the pre-forming body is disposed on the stationary mould with the forging portion received in the forging chamber, the movable mould moves toward the stationary mould, thereby obtaining the forged-body with the forged base.
 8. The fabricating method of claim 6, wherein the die cavity has stepped sides narrowing towards the bottom thereof.
 9. The fabricating method of claim 6, wherein when the upper mould moves toward the lower mould, a side portion of the metallic stock is partly blocked by the side surface of the pre-forging chamber, a portion of the metallic stock flows into the die cavity, thereby forming the forging portion in the die cavity.
 10. The fabricating method of claim 6, wherein the metallic stock is made of stainless steel or aluminum alloy.
 11. A fabricating method for a metallic member, comprising: providing a pre-forging mould, the pre-forging mould comprising an upper mould and a lower mould, the lower mould defining a pre-forging chamber, and a die cavity is defined on a bottom surface of the pre-forging chamber; placing a metallic stock above the die cavity and partly received in the pre-forging chamber, moving the upper mould toward the lower mould and forging the metallic stock, thereby forming a pre-forming body comprising a forging portion in the die cavity and a pre-forged base between the bottom surface of the pre-forging chamber and the upper mould; annealing the pre-forming body; providing a forging mould to forge the pre-forged base of the pre-forming body, thereby obtaining a forged-body with a forged base having a thickness thinner than the pre-forged base; and milling the forged-body to a desired size.
 12. The fabricating method of claim 11, further comprising a step after milling the forged-body, of applying a sand blasting process to the forged-body, thereby obtaining a metallic member.
 13. The fabricating method of claim 11, wherein the forging mould comprises a movable mould and a stationary mould, the stationary mould defines a forging chamber therein having a shape and size substantially the same as the die cavity of the lower mould, when forging the pre-forming body, the pre-forming body is disposed on the stationary mould with the forging portion received in the forging chamber, moving the movable mould toward the pre-forged base, thereby obtaining the forged-body with the forged base.
 14. The fabricating method of claim 11, wherein the die cavity has stepped sides narrowing towards the bottom thereof.
 15. The fabricating method of claim 11, wherein when the upper mould moves toward the lower mould, a side portion of the metallic stock is partly blocked by a side surface of the pre-forging chamber, a portion of the metallic stock flows into the die cavity, thereby forming the forging portion in the die cavity.
 16. The fabricating method of claim 11, wherein the metallic stock is made of stainless steel or aluminum alloy. 